Scouts to admit openly gay boys

Tustin's Chuck Habing has been an adult volunteer in the Boy Scouts since 1996 and until recently was among those opposed to openly gay boys in the organization.

But he was among those applauding Thursday's vote of 1,400 members of the Scouts' National Council, in which 61 percent approved a resolution allowing openly gay Scouts. The move does not affect the ban on gay adults.

“There are boys out there who can benefit from Scouting, and they should not be prevented from participating because they are gay,” said the 51-year-old former Marine, an assistant Scoutmaster in Irvine Troop 36, where his youngest son is working toward becoming an Eagle Scout.

Habing said he's become increasingly accepting of homosexuality in recent years. But the tipping point in terms of gay Scouts came in April, when he was told a Scout that he knew and liked had quit because he was gay and felt uncomfortable in the organization.

Top national leaders of the Boy Scouts urged voting delegates to support change, which comes amid Americans' rapidly shifting view of gays and gay marriage.

“This is not about what's legal, but what's compassionate, caring and kind,” Chief Executive Wayne Brock told assembled delegates in advance of the vote, according to The New York Times.

Key to the measure's passage were the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest single sponsor of Scout units, which gave its support for limited change, and the Roman Catholic Church, another major sponsor, which announced it would not abandon Scouting so long as any new policy applied to youths and not leaders.

But opposition remained strong from some parents and activists, who said they would quit the Scouts and withdraw their sons.

“The Scouts are changing its values rather than changing the boys' values,” said Fountain Valley's Robert Cielnicky, 77, an activist and former Eagle Scout. “They are accommodating aberrant and lethal lifestyles.”

With the Rev. Earle Fox of Placentia's Blessed Sacrament Episcopal Church, Cielnicky authored a letter to the Scouts' 270 regional councils urging a “no” vote on the resolution and warning of “a tragic downward spiral into further self-destructive behavior.”

Many on both sides of the issue – including Habing – have expressed a desire to keep the issue of sex outside the circle of Scouting, something the approved measure addressed.

“The resolution reinforces that Scouting is a youth program, and any sexual conduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Scouting age is contrary to the virtues of Scouting,” the Boy Scouts of America said in a prepared statement.

The issue of gays in Scouting will probably continue despite the resolution, with many calling for openly gay adults to be allowed to participate.

“The Western Los Angeles County Council of the Boy Scouts of America sees the affirmative vote as a first and significant step to total inclusion,” read a Thursday statement from that group. “WLACC strongly urges the National Organization to build quickly on this positive outcome to accept gay leaders and staff as well.”

The Connecticut Yankee Council promised it would defy national policy, saying it intended to accept gay leaders and would be “open to all youths and adults who subscribe to the values of the Scout Oath and Law regardless of their personal sexual orientation.”

Boy Scout executives drew up the resolution after extensive research on member attitudes, including questionnaires sent to 1.1 million adult leaders and parents of Scouts. The resolution was designed as a practical compromise that would acknowledge the growing acceptance of gays while addressing the fear of mass defections if gay adults were included.

Cielnicky said he wouldn't be surprised to see gay adults be admitted eventually, while Habing supported the decision to start by admitting openly gay youth.

“This is a monumental shift,” Habing said. “Let's get used to this. Long term? It's going to change for adults, too.”

Cielnicky is among some who have argued that a change in policy would increase the likelihood of sexual molestation in the Scouts. The Boy Scouts, which have dealt with allegations of abuse by Scout leaders going back decades, dismissed that concern in their information package for delegates, citing expert opinion and studies indicating that gay men are no likelier than others to commit sex abuse.

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